Danger is Near

Chapter 34

I couldn't believe it. Yet again he had walked away. I knew he thought he had the right to, just because he was a leader but in my mind he had no right to simply walk away. Especially after kissing me. He made out like it was my fault. I was extremely hurt and vulnerable and he kissed me. I have to say, that was completely fine. I liked him too. I'm not sure how but I did truly like him. 

But when he kissed me and walked away... No. That pushed my buttons. I mean how rude did he want to be. He couldn't just walk away and leave me there. And whats more... he made it look like the kiss didn't mean anything. Which really hurt me. 

The next morning I woke up feeling exhausted, and I was so glad today and the next day we had no training. 

I ate breakfast with Peter, Drew and Molly. I found them at the table when I went down alone, so I sat with them. 

After that I went to find the girls back at the dorm. When I found them we headed back down to the Hall to find out our rankings. I was quite nervous, although I didn't need to be. Last time I checked I was ranked fourth. 

Matisse, Amy, Tris, Christina, Emma, Tess, Jem and I waited around for about thirty minutes before more people arrived including the Dauntless leaders. 

They waited on the balcony. Max was looking down at us, peering with his black eyes. I began to wander how he possibly could've gotten them that black. Maybe he had some sort of surgery, purposefully for Dauntless. He is the leader. Maybe he wanted to show how dedicated he was. I inquisitively thought. 

The boys came to join us. As well as Molly.

Peter, Molly and Drew made their way to the free seats at the end of the table. Whereas Will squeezed in next to Tris and Christina, Edward squeezed in next to me and Matisse and Al sat next to Tess. 

We all awaited eagerly. Waiting for Max to settle everyone down and begin to speak. 

"Ok, everybody listen up!" Max finally spoke up, while moving his hands around in a way to shut everyone up. 

"Today we will reveal the final rankings for Stage Two. As always, there will be no possible way to change these rankings" Max announced. He paused for a bit and then continued. "Five of you will be cut from the initiate group and another five will be cut from the Dauntless born group. If you are cut there must be no dawdling around. You are to pack your things and leave immediately!" he sternly finished. 

I was a bit taken a back. He seemed extremely serious about this dawdling matter. I made a face at everyone around me, showing how shocked I was, but in a jokingly way. Some of them chuckled, like Edward, Matisse and Amy. Whereas some of them kept straight faces, like Tess, Al, Christina and Tris. 

I looked back up to Max who had just given Eric the signal, letting him know he could reveal the rankings. Just like last time Eric pressed a button in his hand and the panel to our right came to life. 

There was another panel on the left side of the room but that had the Dauntless borns' rankings on it. 

I was relieved when I saw that I was still in fourth position. I was two thirds of the way there. I then looked for Tess' name and found her sitting in second last. I felt so sorry for her. But I was also angry at the same time. I thought Tess was a much greater fighter than Tris, yet she didn't get in... And Tris did! What bullshit!

As I was looking I heard someone near me let out a muffled cry. I looked down the row of people and spotted Al, face buried into his arms. I looked back to the board and saw that he hadn't made it. A pang of sadness surged through me again. That was two people we were losing.